All I knew was this: I watched a world—life—being born in Hell.
Fucking cows. Trees. Birds. What next?
The knowledge was so ludicrous I couldn’t stop myself from laughing.
“Luke?” Kara’s voice brought me back, her curious stare locking with mine.
“It’s amusing, Kitten,” I said, unable to help the smile tugging at the edge of my mouth.
I didn’t want to let her go. So, I shifted her in my arms, cradling her tighter, and continued walking.
“What is?” she asked.
“I remember what it felt like…when I was first thrown into Hell.” The words came out stiff, rough with the weight of memory. I wasn’t used to speaking about my past. I wasn’t used to wanting to.
But she was quiet. Waiting.
Patient.
“I was thrown into darkness,” I said. “The other fallen…they were cast into their own realms. Just as dark, but different.”
“Hell and the Underworld,” Kara guessed.
I chuckled darkly, nodding. “There was no escape. No understanding of what my punishment was. Just endless dark. It took time—and more desperation than I’d ever admit—to discover that through exile, I’d become strong…but still trapped.”
I paused, the memories pulling at me like chains. “Eventually, I learned what I could do. I found I could travel to the Underworld, but only for short stretches before Hell yanked me back. The angels—those who fell with me—changed in the dark. I changed. One moment, there were only a few of us. The next, thousands. Like the fall multiplied us.”
Heavier now, my voice dropped. “The punishment wasn’t just the fall. It was the silence. The void. That’s what broke us. I would’ve begged for this grass…that waterfall…anything to look at besides that consuming black. Madness takes hold when there’s nothing left to see, no shape to hold on to. And back then, I had power that I didn’t understand. By the time I figured out I couldshapethe place I was trapped in, it had already been too long.”
I looked up at the sky. It was changing again—no longer black, but shifting to something like red, almost pink. Soft. Foreign.
“I discovered I could sway humans,” I said. “Lead them off their paths. Whisper temptations in their ears, stir anger in their hearts. It didn’t take much—just a push. I already opened Pandora’s box; they only needed a nudge to fall in. Don’t get me wrong, Kitten…they were capable of damnation all on their own. But I helped.”
Kara didn’t speak. She listened. As if shewantedto hear the truth, even when it burned.
“Your father was created not long after that,” I added. “And soon, the first wicked souls came to me. At first, I didn’t understand why. But I could always tell what they’d done. The weight clung to them. Howwickedthey were.”
My voice turned harsh. “Maybe He sent them to me as another punishment. I made them worse, so He made me their warden. I punished them—whether they did evil on their own or because of my influence. I became judge, jury, executioner.”
I looked around at the trees, the river… The impossible softness of this place I had ruled in fire.
“So yeah. Seeing this…” I swept a hand across the blooming horizon. “It’s jarring. It’s ridiculous. And it makes my fucking blood boil.”
I could make Hell appear like this if I wanted. But back then, I hadn’t known. And when I finally discovered what I could do, it was…too late. I had grown ugly in the dark—so ugly that I hated beauty. Especially the kind that fit in my arms and could send the strongest man to his knees.
“Hell is trying to convince you to stay,” Kara whispered, blushing. “Maybe it’s not your fate to go to the human world.”
I gripped her tighter. “I know my fate. The question is, do you?”
Tears glistened in her eyes, and everything inside me rioted at the sight.
“I know what I must do,” she mumbled, her voice as sad as her expression.
“Save your family?” I murmured, bending down until my breath touched her lips. “I’ve always told you what you should do.”
She knew exactly what I meant—her eyes narrowed instantly. She scoffed and pulled away from me.
“I’m not saying goodbye. It won’t come to that.”
